Letter to the editor: Tax cuts only add to federal debt

August 13, 2011

Tax cuts only add to federal debt

How outrageous conservatives are. They stood on principal refusing to negotiate on raising the debt ceiling, wanting the nation to default on its debt in the name of reducing entitlements while preserving the status quo for the wealthy and corporations.

Now that the predicted has happened and our credit rating was lowered by one credit rating agency, conservatives, in cacophonous unity, cry for U.S. Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner’s resignation.

It’s his fault they say. Never mind that Standard and Poor’s skepticism any agreement could be reached after the recent debt ceiling debacle and their assumption that the Bush tax cuts would be allowed to expire influenced the rating.

Why wait for the obvious when you’ve seen the outcome when negotiations fail because one side refuses to compromise unless given exactly what they demand?

Where was the hue and cry the past 10 years to reduce spending as tax cuts were enacted and the debt ceiling was raised eight times under Republican leadership? The federal debt increased from $5.8 trillion to $24 trillion under their watch.

Democrats are now blamed for out-of-control spending conservatives vow to control even if it means returning the nation to the Depression era.

Why can’t tax cuts be allowed to expire? I doubt anyone can produce compelling evidence the country benefited by extending the cuts in an era where corporations have more money than the U.S. government does and executives routinely receive million-dollar bonuses.

One has to question why any politician would seriously protest eliminating tax breaks/loopholes that allow this to happen.

When those benefited by the tax cuts concede they should expire and express a willingness to pay more taxes, one cannot rationalize continuing to push for extending the cuts that add trillions to the federal debt.